The Ute Mountain Tribe of Colorado is joining the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in a lawsuit against the State of Colorado over regulated sports betting. At issue is whether or not tribal sports betting should fall under the jurisdiction of the state; or whether it more properly belongs with the Federal Government.
Both tribes contend that the gaming compact they signed more than 20 years ago makes them exempt from Colorado’s ten percent sports betting tax. The State of Colorado disagrees. But while the two sides are duking it out in court, the State is illegally pressuring gaming operators to not work with the tribes, according to papers filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado against Governor Jared Polis and state Division of Gaming Director Chris Schroder.
Lawyers for the tribe contend that these threats violate tribal sovereignty saying, “This attempt to bring tribal gaming under state regulation is illegal, offensive to tribal sovereignty, and pointless. The tribes are sovereign Indian nations that have occupied their homelands since time immemorial and, as such, enjoy a sovereign right to regulate their own commercial activities as they see fit, consistent with their binding gaming compacts with Colorado.”
Representatives for the State of Colorado have offered the tribes a compromise by offering to only tax wagers that are placed on Indian land, but the tribes aren’t budging. Ute Mountain Ute Tribe Chairman Manuel Heart nixed the idea in comments reported on by the Colorado Springs Gazette saying, “The State must live up to its obligations to our Tribes as outlined in agreements and federal law. Because of this ongoing injustice, we are also now taking the unfortunate but necessary step of legal action to correct this.”
The State of Colorado has yet to respond to this latest filing in the case.